The present invention relates to a specialized disposable sanitary cover or sheath which is intended for use in surrounding a reuseable temperature and respiration sensing probe used in measuring these physiological parameters in a patient. The cover is formed in unitary construction and has a specially adapted end portion for surrounding the temperature sensing element and a specially constructed scoop portion for guiding and channeling the respiration exhalation from the patient towards the respiration sensing means located in the probe.
In keeping with the recent trend in the health care field towards automation of previous manual or mechanical sensing operations, the use of electrical sensors to measure certain patient physiological parameters has been increasing. However, such electrical sensors do not readily lend themselves to previous methods of sanitation when it is desired to use the sensor on a successive number of patients. For example, after measuring a patient's temperature with a glass-bulb thermometer, the thermometer was typically immersed in alcohol, thereby providing the necessary hygiene. However, in the case of an electronic thermometer, the physical construction of the sensing means is often adversely affected by its immersion in alcohol. Similarly, when sensing a patient's respiration rate by the use of an electronic means such apparatus must necessarily be close to the patient's face while exhaled air from the nasal passages is conducted over a suitable sensor. Accordingly, the respiration sensing means must also be cleaned in order to be used by a successive number of patients. One solution to the problem of cross-contamination between patients has been to discard the entire sensing apparatus after its initial use by a patient; however, this is expensive and has not met with much approval in the health care industry. A much better solution to the sanitation problem is the use of disposable covers or sheaths which fit over the sensing means and are discarded after each patient's use. However, such covers, while solving the problem of cleaning the sensing means, have also introduced their own peculiar problems. For example, because the thermistor which senses the temperature should be in good thermal contact with the area to be measured, the probe cover must be a good thermal conductor. The probe and cover together must have a small thermal mass to prevent adversely affecting the temperature of the body in immediate proximity to the temperature sensor.
To simultaneously measure a patient's respiration as well as temperature, it is necessary to channel the exhalations of the patient into the area where the respiration sensor is located.
A drawback of known sensing sheaths has been a tendency to become disoriented when inserted in a patient's mouth. That is , since most probes and their sheaths are rounded, the probe will often tend to rotate about its longitudinal axis after insertion in a patient's mouth, losing its desired orientation and its ability to capture the patient's respiratory exhalations and in this manner a faulty reading is likely to occur.